Do you want to save time when installing Windows 7 ? You can
create a customized installation disc and have it perform an installation
without asking you questions, integrate updates and drivers, tweak Windows, and
remove Windows components.
We’ll be using RT
Se7en Lite for this – if you’ve used nLite with Windows XP or vLite
with Windows Vista in the past, it works similarly. RT Se7en Lite is a sort of
vLite or nLite for Windows 7.
What You’ll Need
- Run the StartCD.exe file, select Windows AIK Setup, and
follow the instructions on your screen to install Windows AIK.
- You’ll also need a Windows 7 installation source – either a
physical disc or ISO file.
- Next, download
and install RT Se7en Lite from here – it’s free and
donation-supported. Download the appropriate version for your version of
Windows — x86 if you’re using a 32-bit version of Windows or x64 if you’re
using a 64-bit edition.
Using RT Se7en Lite
- First, click the Browse button and provide your Windows 7
files – if you have an ISO file on your hard drive, click Select ISO file and
navigate to it. If you have a Windows disc, insert the disk, click Select OS
path, and navigate to the disc.
- If you provide an ISO, you’ll have to specify an extraction
path where the ISO’s files will be extracted to – you’ll need several gigabytes
of space on your hard disk for this.
- The files will be automatically extracted after you provide
your ISO.
- After selecting the edition of Windows 7 you’re customizing,
RT Se7en Lite will load the image. If you have a Windows 7 disc without Service
Pack 1 integrated, click the Slipstream Service Pack option in the "Select an
image to configure” window and you’ll be able to integrate SP1.
- Click over to the Task pane and select the tasks you want to
perform after the image is loaded. You can manually check the check boxes or
select a preset. Selecting one of the check boxes will activate the
corresponding configuration pane at the left side of the window.
- The integration pane allows you to integrate Windows
updates, drivers, language packs, and even third-party applications into your
installation disc. To integrate updates, you’ll have to download their
installer files and load them into RT Seven Lite with the Add button.
- On the Features Removal or Components tab, you can
permanently remove components from your Windows installation disc and control
which Windows features are installed by default. For example, you can remove
the included games from your Windows installer disc, or force Windows to
install the IIS web server by default.
- The Tweaks tab allows you to customize the default settings
for the Windows Control Panel, Desktop, Explorer, and a variety of other
Windows components. You can even add custom registry settings to tweak other
settings that aren’t present in the list.
- The Unattended section allows you to create an unattended
installation disc – you provide answers to installation questions beforehand
and Windows will install without asking you these questions during the
installation process.
- For example, you can enter your product key ahead of time so
Windows won’t ask you for it. The other tabs allow you to control other
settings – for example, selecting the hard disks that Windows will install on.
If you complete enough of these settings, Windows will install automatically
without asking you any questions during the installation, allowing you to
perform an unattended Windows installation.
- The Customization pane allows you to add custom screensaver, wallpapers, themes, documents, and even logon screens to your
Windows 7 disc.
On the ISO Bootable pane, you can create a ISO image from
your customized installation disc. You can also burn it to a DVD or copy it to
a bootable USB drive.
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